A Preface of General Village Local Tour
Updated: Dec 2, 2021
General Village is a military dependent village, built by the government in 1959, using the money they earned from selling the bombshells from the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. The military officers who lived here in the past also took part in that war.
The original name of General Village is 金城新村, but now we all call it General Village(將軍村), because people who lived here were high-ranked military officers. It has another lovely name as well, called “百顆星星的家” in Mandarin, in English it means “the house of hundreds of stars.” Because there are several star-shaped emblems on the military uniforms of those generals who lived here, so it is how General Village got its nickname.
Although General Village doesn’t have a long history, just around 60 years. Some people may argue about the value of conserving it. There was a period when the economy of Taiwan grew pretty fast. So, people and government started to demolish this kind of residence area to build more commercial buildings. But this kind of village already became part of local people’s memories. That is why it is crucial to conserve it.
But we didn’t want to just conserve it and make it into a dead museum; we want it to be a “living library” that is relevant to modern people’s lives.
A library is open to public, so we want visitors to feel comfortable to visit and learn not from books, but from people in the community and environment. We have a bold Vision: to explore and showcase the lifestyle of tomorrow- A Sustainable Living Lifestyle.
We give the historic houses new meanings and functions that tie in with our values of Slow and Smart Living. Since General Village is a living library, “Learning” is an important aspect. We hold forums for people with common interests to come together to exchange thoughts and share experiences. We provide hands-on workshops for visitors to broaden their experiences and learn skills from experts and locals.
There are a total of 15 houses in General Village, and 3 of them have been restored as you can see. The one over there is Slow Food School (Point), another one there is Craftsman’s House, and the third one is the one in front of us, Chat Room. We will talk about them later in our local tour.
